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Hmm...used to ride English myself (hunt saddle on a Tennessee Walker but it's what I could afford). Split snaffle most of the time but that was because the horse knew his business and I couldn't screw him up too badly that way. Graduated to a double when they figured they could trust me but I never used it on that particular horse. At no point in my career did I ever know more about riding than that horse did.

Nothing wrong with a hackamore if you're neck-reining. Plow reining, now, which is what Pootie appears to be doing, is a little less...ah, "precise," as you tactfully state. Or you give it to a rider who you expect to lead around a lot. ;-)

Actually, I thought you were talking about my rig.

But taking a closer look at the pic, I think that little Mongolian horse is in a hackamore, or just a halter with reins since I don't see any action on the nasal bone (the noseband is way too high up for that). And the way Pootie is hauling on him, if he had any sort of bit in his mouth his mouth would be gaped open.

Sorry for assuming you rode Western - most guys do, if they don't play polo or hunt! I could see riding a TWalker in a hunt saddle, I'll ride anything in a hunt saddle, even a polo pony. (When I was helping a neighbor ride in a batch of polo ponies, I brought my big old Courbette hunting saddle down and it did look silly - but I was very secure and comfortable on some pretty wooly beasts!)